The approach to landing and landing are complex rotorcraft operations requiring a pilot to quickly react with precise actions. The route that a rotorcraft travels toward a designated landing site includes a designated location referred to as a “missed approach point” (MAP). Prior to reaching the missed approach point, a rotorcraft pilot relies on onboard instruments and displays to guide his travel path. The pilot is expected to acquire and maintain visual contact with the landing site by the time the rotorcraft reaches the MAP. Generally, the visual search area is defined by a direct line of sight plus or minus thirty degrees; in other words, the full visual scan area may be a cognitively-exhausting sixty degrees. If visual contact with the landing site has not been made by the time the rotorcraft reaches the MAP, the pilot must execute an associated missed approach point operation, which may include abandoning the landing site or executing a looping travel path in another attempt. Therefore, prior to reaching the MAP, the rotorcraft pilot is concurrently viewing onboard rotorcraft display systems and a wide swath of the outside environment, thereby experiencing a high cognitive workload.
Even with support from traditional rotorcraft onboard display systems, acquiring visual contact with the landing site when the rotorcraft is at or prior to the MAP may be challenging. For example, the actual landing site may be a significant distance from the MAP, may not be visible due to distance or obstructions (even in daytime) and may be in an unfamiliar terrain or at an unfamiliar airport. In addition, the coordinates provided for the landing site may have slight inaccuracies; each of these scenarios may increase pilot cognitive workload. Therefore, a rotorcraft display system that provides symbology that directs the pilot's gaze toward the landing site prior to the MAP is needed.
In view of the foregoing, a system and method for displaying, prior to rotorcraft reaching the MAP, symbology that is indicative of the direction of a landing site are desirable. The desired system and method generate and display, prior to the rotorcraft reaching the MAP, symbology that conveys visual guidance that may be quickly and easily comprehended by a pilot. The desired system and method reduce the pilot's visual scan area and associated search time, reducing cognitive workload and increasing situational awareness.